Lindsay LeRoy, Director of Alumni Relations; Executive Director of the UNCW Alumni Association
Board of Trustees External Affairs Committee Report
Executive Summary Statement:
The mission of the alumni relations team and the UNCW Alumni Association is to engage alumni in the life
of the university and its students through regional, affinity, reunion, career and student programs. Our
goal is to inform alumni of the opportunities for them to engage with UNCW so they are inspired to get
involved as event participants, volunteers, mentors, employers and/or ambassadors and to invest by giving
back philanthropically to support UNCW and our students. Our team continues to move forward with the
division’s strategic plan and implementing tactics that that will improve the alumni giving percentage.
Quarterly Activity (performance measures, etc.):
• The alumni relations team planned and executed 12 regional, reunion, affinity, award and student
events with a total 1,162 attendees. These events included the Future Seahawks Legacy Event, HireNC
Alumni Career Fair, Commencement Celebration, Sankofa, spring mixers, alumni baseball picnics, and
academic themed events and dinners.
• 29 targeted volunteer committee meetings and one on one meetings/luncheons hosted by the alumni
relations staff engaging 84 alumni to personally tell UNCWs story and to increase alumni engagement.
• Social media strategy and communication pieces including emails, electronic newsletters and direct mail
pieces were designed, created and sent as part of the Alumni Association’s strategic communication
plan to inform alumni.
o Social Media Marketing: Nearly doubled the number of posts on the Alumni Facebook page (98%
increase), resulting in a reach of 350,887 users in Q4. This is an increase of 606% users reached from
FY14 Q4.
o Average number of engaged users per post to the Alumni Facebook page is 139 for Q4, a 56%
increase from this time period last year.
o Alumni Newsletter May/June issue produced 400% more click-throughs from users who opened the
email, compared to QTR3 (10/1 – 12/30/14). Since the newsletter’s first publication in 8/12, user opens
have grown 66%, and user click throughs has grown 31%.
Special Accomplishments and Highlights:
• Megan Iacobellis has joined the alumni relations team as assistant director for regional programming
and engagement. She joins us from Eastern Virginia Medical School where she has held positions as
assistant director in both Annual Giving and Special Events. Prior to this, she served as a Volunteer
Coordinator at the non-profit, ForKids, Inc.
• In partnership with the UNCW Career Center, we will be entering into a contract with Brazen, a realtime communication tool which will allow our office to engage with our alumni anywhere, anytime
through virtual events centered around, networking, mentoring and job placement.
• William Vaughan ‘92 will be taking the helm of the UNCW Alumni Association starting July 1 as chair.
New Alumni Board of Directors include Vaughn Reynolds ’98, ‘99M (Charlotte, NC), Brian Tracy ’86
(Wrightsville Beach, NC) and Lynn Whitesell ‘97M (Wilmington, NC).
• The Alumni Association awarded 22 students with scholarships for FY15-16 totaling $48,400.
Challenges and items of special focus:
• The reorganization of the alumni relations team will allow for added interactions with the alumni base.
7.16.15 External Affairs Committee Reports
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Jimmy Bass, Director of Athletics
Board of Trustees External Affairs Committee Report
Executive Summary Statement:
The second quarter was a very busy period for UNCW Athletics. Spring championships were competed
with Seahawk baseball winning the 2015 CAA championship, receiving the NCAA automatic bid and
traveling to LSU to compete in the Baton Rouge Regional. Spring commencement was a huge success with
55 student-athletes earning their undergraduate degrees.
Summer Session I was completed and Summer Session II is underway with the both basketball programs’
entire scholarship rosters enrolled in summer school and participating in NCAA allowed workouts.
Quarterly Activity (performance measures, etc):
• Projections are for athletic revenues to exceed expenses for FY15 and the amount transferred into
fund balance will exceed budgeted amount.
• Seahawk Club will meet its FY15 scholarship obligation ($630,000)
Special Accomplishments and Highlights:
• Fifty-five student-athletes earned undergraduate degrees at spring commencement:
Men’s basketball (3)
Women’s basketball (1)
Men’s cross country (1)
Women’s cross country (1) Men’ s golf (1)
Women’s golf (2)
Men’s soccer (3)
Softball (3)
Men’s swim (7)
Women’s swim (6)
Volleyball (3)
Women’s Track (12)
Men’s tennis (2)
Women’s tennis (2)
Men’s Track (6)
• Four student-athletes (Rebekah Banks-basketball, Chandler Danielson-golf, Mallory Warwick-golf
and Janie Mangold-Cross country) traveled to Indianapolis, IN to participate in the NCAA’s Career
in Sports Forum (June 4-7). The forum was designed to assist student-athletes in charting career
paths, as well as providing opportunities to network and learn from current athletic professionals.
• Staff changes: hired Adolfo Rivera as Assistant Strength Coach, Sheri Brinson as Student-Athlete
Insurance Coordinator, Kristal Studer as Academic Coordinator and David Fischer as Assistant
Volleyball Coach/Beach Volleyball. Promoted Kama Tucker to Associate Head Coach Softball.
Challenges and items of special focus:
• Strategic plan update (identifying 2015-16 priorities)
• Policies and procedures manual update is in progress
• Facility renovations planning in progress (men’s basketball locker room, softball dugouts, Academic
Enhancement Center, baseball/softball indoor hitting facility)
• Track renovation fundraising efforts underway
7.16.15 External Affairs Committee Reports
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Eddie Stuart, Vice Chancellor for University Advancement
Board of Trustees External Affairs Committee Report
Executive Summary Statement:
The Division for University Advancement endeavors to heighten UNCW’s philanthropic giving and alumni
relations programming through effective engagement of alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students, friends,
corporations and foundations. Overall, the University of North Carolina Wilmington enjoyed a productive
year in philanthropic giving. With the adoption of a three-year strategic plan, it is anticipated that
performance targets in annual, alumni, major and planned giving will position UNCW to more effectively
secure much-need private support.
Activity (YTD performance measures, etc.):
• $9.1M in total gifts and new commitments
• $7.7M in gifts receipted (3% decrease compared to FY14 and 38% increase compared to FY13)
• 40 major gift proposals submitted
• Proposal value - $9.6M
• Commitments made - $4.8M
• 2,862 contacts made with major gift prospects
• 7 new planned gifts valued at $2,595,000
• 17 new merit scholarships established
• $740,409 received in annual giving program solicitations- 112% toward FY 16 goal
• 3,518 Alumni Donors- 95% toward FY 16 goal
• 2,537 Parents contributed $545,657 for Fiscal Year 2015
• 572 faculty and staff gave in FY 15
• Senior Class Giving Participation at 21% with 499 student donors in FY 15
• Faculty Staff Participation at 31% (highest since 2010)
• 7% increase in constituents in the UNCW Society. (102 more parent members than in FY 14)
Special Accomplishments and Highlights:
• Implemented restructure of Division to orient focus on strategic development (discovery), major gifts,
development operations, and alumni engagement
• Welcomed Kevin Thompson ’12 MPA to the Major Gifts team as a Director of Development aligned with
the Watson College of Education and the Office of Undergraduate Studies
• Welcomed Jordan Hinkley and Jordan Wilkins to the Events team
• UA Communications had a 98% increase in posts, resulting in 350,887 users in Q4
Challenges and items of special focus:
• Implementation of successful onboarding of Chancellor Sartarelli through donor visits, events in areas of
alumni and donor concentrations, and orientation regarding the advancement program at UNCW
• Expand ‘Get to Know PHIL’ student giving efforts to include: fall event; week long spring events; have
the Senior Class Giving Committee grow into the Student PHILanthropy Committee
• Pilot crowdfunding as a solicitation vehicle
• Fine-tune phonathon strategies to ensure greatest ROI
• Brainstorming strategies to further enhance FY 16 one-day giving challenge and identifying potential
challenge donors
• Utilizing the Raiser’s Edge capabilities more to increase efficiencies and drive business
7.16.15 External Affairs Committee Reports
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Janine Iamunno, Executive Director, University Relations
Board of Trustees External Affairs Committee Report
Executive Summary Statement: The Office of University Relations (OUR) focused on telling UNCW’s story
during the past quarter by promoting and sharing a number of accomplishments achieved by students,
faculty and the university as a whole. OUR collaborated with colleagues on campus and at the UNC system
level to introduce Chancellor Jose V. “Zito” Sartarelli to the campus and community. OUR’s efforts included
media relations management, videography and photography, graphic design, editorial content production
and digital coverage (website and social media). OUR also played a key role in announcing a new graduate
program for Film Studies and introducing new Deans for the Watson College of Education and the
Cameron School of Business. OUR highlighted several outstanding graduates from the Class of 2015 during
May commencement via campus “channels” (website, social media, TV and photo coverage) and regional
media outlets. OUR looked to the future with the latest issue of UNCW Magazine, which focused on
introducing Chancellor Sartarelli as well as prominent alumni, donors, faculty and students.
Quarterly Activity:
OUR produced and distributed 79,500 copies of UNCW Magazine for distribution to alumni, friends and
regional leaders as well as 2,000 earmarked for spring 2015 graduates with a congratulatory message from
Advancement; and 5,000 copies earmarked for Admissions to share with prospective students and their
parents.
• OUR designed or created 100 other creative services projects submitted by all university divisions,
including the OLLI fall course catalog, the Cameron Insider, a 20-page report on sustainability and
materials for spring commencement, the Swain Center Outlook Conference, and Family and Alumni
Weekend.
• During the past quarter, the Office of University Relations has continued to secure diverse media
coverage resulting in over one million media impressions weekly. Coverage includes the naming of the
Dean of the Watson College of Education, the Dean of the Cameron School of Business and the Director
of the Office of the Arts. OUR also secured coverage surrounding the graduate filmmaking program.
Commencement coverage included a number of student stories: UNCW student has dream of ‘green’
gym, 47 years later, grad collects degree and a medal, Mentor works to be the best he can be and UNCW
grad to tackle big research in tiny marine organisms. There have also been numerous articles featuring
faculty research and professors as experts: Oceanographer: Sharks hear people long before they see
them, Beach hazard warns of Portuguese man o’ wars, The new face of aging: UNCW professor turns life
expectancy research into business, As region's population ages, what does future hold for
retirees? and UNC-Wilmington in the tank for sustainability.
• Media production managed four live broadcasts of commencement ceremonies, compiled a
commencement photo gallery with more than 100 images, and developed a multimedia feature about
commencement. The unit also produced two feature videos to accompany UNCW Magazine as well as a
promotional video for the History Department.
Special Accomplishments and Highlights:
• Through an IT-OUR partnership, UNCW has acquired a new content management system (Cascade
Server) for the university’s website that will enhance its functionality, reliability and service options.
• The Media Production team received a national award (a bronze Telly) for a public service
announcement (PSA) produced by Victoria Foley ’14 as an applied learning project during her senior
internship with the OUR office.
7.16.15 External Affairs Committee Reports
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Challenges and items of special focus: Dustin Miller, OUR’s longtime media production director, departed
UNCW in May for a new professional opportunity out of state, but Jesse Bradley, Dustin’s right-hand man,
has been appointed interim director. A replacement is expected to be named in the fall. The implementation
of the campus CMS is a colossal endeavor that may require additional staffing (there is currently only one
OUR staffer involved), and an additional content creator may be necessary to support our new chancellor
and our continued commitment to telling the UNCW story.
7.16.15 External Affairs Committee Reports
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